Where heart health is concerned the balance should be slightly more in favour of vegetables, according to new research from Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
This is based on data that showed a higher consumption of vegetables, together with fruit, is connected ]with a lower risk of death in men and women. The findings were drawn from computerized data pertaining to around 2 million adults. Follow-up research traced 100,000 people from the database across a thirty tear period, noting health and diet combinations.
The data was normalized for those with previoulsy identified health conditions, such as hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, and whether or not people were smokers.
The optimal det, based on five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, was when the food was consumed as two servings of fruit plus three servings of vegetables. Some advice goes further. As an example, the American Heart Association recommends eating eight or more fruit and vegetable servings every day.
However, not all fruits and vegetables were found to be of equal value. Starchy vegetables, like peas and corn, fruit juices and potatoes did not have an association with reduced risk from chronic diseases. The diseases in question included cardiovascular disease and cancer.
In contrast, the green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce and kale imparted a positive effect. With fruits, citrus fruits and berries showed the greatest benefits.
The research appears in the journal Circulation, under the title “Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mortality: Results From 2 Prospective Cohort Studies of US Men and Women and a Meta-Analysis of 26 Cohort Studies.”
